A Wyndham councillor suspended for serious misconduct, has claimed she’s the victim of a ’political machine’ that wants to remove her from office.
An emotional Cr Jasmine Hill made the claims while addressing a meeting of Wyndham council on Monday night where a motion to approve her suspension was passed.
Last week Victoria’s Councillor Conduct Panel found Cr Hill had engaged in serious misconduct by bullying two council officers during 2021 and 2022 and suspended her for four months.
A motion noting the suspension was passed by a majority of councillors, with only Cr Hill and Cr Heather Marcus abstaining.
Cr Marcel Mahfoud was absent.
Cr Hill’s suspension takes effect from December 12 and will finish in April next year.
Speaking before the vote, Cr Hill denied the bullying allegations and defended using an estimated $60,000 in ratepayers’ money on legal counsel, arguing she was entitled to do so under legislation.
She said she forgave those she believed had used the council disciplinary process to silence her.
“This should not be used as a tool for any political machine to stop elected representatives from carrying out their roles in keeping the council accountable and combating corruption,“ Cr Hill told the chamber to loud applause from the gallery.
Earlier, the motion to approve the suspension of Cr Hill was moved by deputy mayor Josh Gilligan who was also the applicant in the matter.
Cr Gilligan told the chamber that being the applicant was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my professional life“ but that it made the findings of the panel “even more powerful”.
He said Cr Hill was guilty of “conduct that would see a worker in any workplace in the state of Victoria get the flick and rightly so”.
The panel found Cr Hill screamed and shouted at two council staffers on multiple occasions, affecting their health and underminding council operations.
On one such occasion, during a telephone call with one of the staffer son April 14, 2022, Cr Hill screamed: “why can’t you do your job properly?” and “You should hire new staff from culturally diverse backgrounds because the staff you have won’t accommodate other cultures“.
The staff member said Cr Hill screamed “I am not a communist” over and over during the 40 minute conversation which was so loud she had to turn down the volume on her Bluetooth.
In giving evidence to the panel, the staffer described the situation as “awful“.
Both staff members have since resigned, citing Cr Hill’s behaviour as a major factor in their decisions.
Of the 19 allegations made against Cr Hill, the panel found six occurred, while five were dismissed and one had no finding made.
Seven allegations were not heard because they allegedly happened more than 12 months before the application was made by Cr Gilligan in October 2022.
In a statement, Wyndham mayor Jennie Barrera accepted the panel’s findings and said improving council’s workplace environment was of utmost importance.
“Staff have the right to feel safe when coming to work and this is a priority for Wyndham Councillors and the CEO,“ Cr Barerra said.
“This has been a very difficult process for all involved however the utmost priority is ensuring a safe and respectful workplace for our staff whilst we represent the best interests of the community.”
